Pretty
by Jelly Beans Galore
Summary: Linnéa Oxenstierna moves to the same city as her friend from summer camp, Timo. She falls for his twin sister and convinces him to help her. Meanwhile, her older brother Berwald starts to believe that Linnéa and Timo are dating—and he thinks he likes Timo.


So this the double SuFin thing I've been meaning to write for a while. The title may change later. I'm just so terrible with them that I hardly even try anymore.

* * *

The doors to the school were visible from where the car was parked. Hundreds of students congregated just outside the school, grouping together with their friends and chatting. Others hung around in the cars, unwilling to subject themselves to the cold weather. The only thing that connected them all was that they were used to this school and just wanted to get inside.

Linnéa wanted to get out the car and find Timo, but she had no idea where he would be. She considered sending him a text, but she vaguely remembered a conversation with him a few years ago in which he said something about not turning his phone on until after school. Texting Timo wouldn't help anything and she had no idea where he went before school.

Linnéa sighed. She hadn't seen Timo Väinämöinen, her friend from summer camp, in the four years since they'd both been there. They'd kept in touch through email and texts, but none of that had ever included sending pictures. She supposed they both figured that they still looked the same, which was a rather stupid assumption now that she thought about it. She had told him that she was moving to the city that he lived and they'd rejoiced because they would attend the same school, but never had they thought to even compare schedules.

She slumped farther down into the seat, hugging her bag to her chest. Her brother glanced over at her as he turned the car off. "Gotta go find the coach. What're ya gonna do?" Berwald, a year older than her and in his last year of high school, played soccer at their old school and he'd already been in contact with the coach here to ensure he had a place on the team.

Linnéa could see in his face that he was worried about her. After all, she was pretty shy. But she shrugged it off and assured him that she would be fine.

Satisfied, Berwald nodded and walked off. Linnéa slumped down in her seat, unsure where to go. She twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers as she picked up her schedule and looked at it again. She'd already taken a look around the school and knew that her class was rather close to her locker. That was good, she supposed. She shifted around and crossed her legs. She just wished she knew if Timo would be in any of her classes. It would be nice to have at least one friend.

Linnéa had not been excited to move. It was sort of nice that she could see Timo, of course, and she kind of liked the idea of the school, considering all she'd heard from him. It was said to have a large population of foreign students so she wouldn't be out of place. There was a variety of things to do in this town as well, plenty of things that interested her. Linnéa was eager for the weekend, when she and Timo had made plans for him to show her around.

While all of that sounded good, she had left her small, close group of friends behind and now she would need to make new ones. It was difficult for her and she was not eager. She'd considered making friends with Timo's friends, but she had to assume they would be predominantly male and Linnéa wanted girl friends to hang out with. She sighed. Berwald would have a worse time making friends, of course. Her brother was rather intimidating and he didn't do well with first impressions. But he only had what was left of this school year and then he would go off to college.

Linnéa bit her lip. She wasn't being fair to her brother. Making friends at college would be just as hard. But she still felt jealous.

She heard the bell ring and watched as students started to pour inside. Linnéa picked her bag up off of the floor of the car and tossed it over her shoulder. She opened the door and pressed the button so it locked. Then she walked to the nearest door, unwilling to go near that crowd of students. She looked around and tried to remember how to get to her locker from there. Once she'd located that, she grabbed everything she'd need for her first three classes and then turned into the hallway where her first was located.

When Linnéa entered the classroom, there were only a few other students in there. She found a seat in the corner away from everyone. It wasn't the best spot for making new friends—but Linnéa was _shy_ and she couldn't force herself to do that anyway. More students piled in and the room grew steadily louder as people met with their friends and began talking. Linnéa knew that she stuck out as the girl who hadn't been there before and wasn't talking to anyone. She hunched down to appear small and insignificant. But she could only stare at the wall for so long before she got bored and Linnéa decided to take a quick look around. What she saw made her think that she didn't regret her seat choice.

Just to her left and a seat forward sat the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen. She had long, pale blond hair, shiny and perfect, that fell over shoulders. The girl tucked it behind her ears to keep it out of her face, but it kept returning to its original place. She must have been sitting with her friends because she kept turning towards them and chatting and laughing. Her smile was beautiful and she looked so happy. Her eyes—dark-colored, brown perhaps—lit up as she spoke and she seemed to light up the whole room. Her uniform seemed to fit her well and she was just—beautiful.

She made Linnéa's face flush.

Linnéa ducked her head so no one looked at her. This was so embarrassing… It was the first day of school and she'd already found someone she could… _like_. And Linnéa _knew_ she could like this girl. She was cheerful; it was evident in her tone. She could hold attention but she didn't demand it. She just seemed very, very… The only word that came to Linnéa's mind was home. This girl seemed like home. She made people comfortable and relaxed and she seemed warm and friendly and—

The final bell rang and the teacher stepped forward to start the lesson. It was the same as always: good-morning-let's-start-today's-lesson-here's-wha t-we'll-do-blah-blah-blah. Linnéa half-listened as she glanced over the page in the book and wrote down the homework assignment. She tried to discreetly glance over at the girl, but she caught her eye and immediately needed to look away.

She buried her face in her hands and waited for class to end.

* * *

It wasn't until her third class—chemistry—that Linnéa saw Timo. He was sitting in the second row, second seat, fiddling with his pencil as he tried to put the lead back in. It didn't cooperate and he was mouthing something along the lines of, "Fuck, dammit, you stupid fucking lead, I will murder you if you don't get into the pencil right now!" Then he glanced up and saw her, throwing on a smile. He hopped up and made her sit in the desk directly next to him.

Timo didn't look very different from summer camp. He was slightly—_slightly_ being the key word—taller, but he was still barely 170 cm and she was just a few centimeters taller. He still had a baby face, but he at least looked fourteen as opposed to being mistaken for an eight-year-old at twelve. Timo grinned and chatted with her idly, trying to draw her out of her shell. Linnéa found that the exchange was slightly awkward because they hadn't spoken face-to-face in so long, but she persevered. Timo was her only friend and she didn't want to lose him.

"Ah, I totally forgot to ask you what your classes are! I was worried we wouldn't have any together. Give me your schedule," he ordered and she complied. They would only see each other one other time, their next class, history. They lamented that, but then Timo added, "Oh, but you have a lot of classes with my sister. I'm sure she'll help you around!"

Linnéa thought back to something she'd heard him say—something about his twin sister not coming to camp because she didn't want to spend any more time with him.

"…Twin?" she asked unsurely.

"Yes!" Timo said. "She should be pretty easy to find. We look a lot alike—although she'd never admit that." He half-laughed. "Her name Aina. I'll introduce you to her."

Linnéa nodded.

Timo continued chattering about nothing. The school was nice, he thought she'd like, the people here were nice too, it shouldn't be hard to make friend, a couple of questions about family, and upon hearing that her brother was attending as well, what grade was he in and what was his name. Linnéa answered him when it was required, but she typically kept quiet. Timo didn't seem to notice much and he talked until the teacher started class.

She tried to pay attention, but Linnéa's thoughts were still drawn back to that pretty girl.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Timo dragged Linnéa out of there room and in the direction of their class. She tried to protest, saying that she needed to stop by her locker, but Timo assured her she wouldn't need anything. The class was somewhat far away and took a while to reach. They talked as they walked. Or really, just as in the classroom, Timo talked and Linnéa listened. Then he seemed to run out of things to say and it grew quiet until they reached their destination. The history teacher was standing just outside of the room and Timo introduced the two before heading inside. Linnéa shyly introduced herself and the teacher explained where they were in the book and what kind of assignments she could expect. She then told Linnéa that there were assigned seats and told her where to sit. Linnéa glanced in to see and—oh. Right next to the pretty girl.

She wasn't sure if that was good luck or not. Because, yes, now she would be able to see her any time, but then she would also have the opportunity to embarrass herself leering over her head all the time.

The teacher continued explaining things and telling Linnéa she could stop by any time she needed something and subtly putting in word that Linnéa would be good for volleyball and that she coached that team. Linnéa withdrew into her own mind and fretted about sitting next to the pretty girl.

"Alright, you can go inside now," said the teacher once she had finished with her spiel. Linnéa nodded awkwardly and moved inside where oh god people were staring at her. She took her seat quietly and folded her hands in her lap, staring down at them as if they were impossibly fascinating.

"Linnéa. Linnéa. Linnééééééééaaaaaaaaaa."

She leaned back and looked at Timo, who was seated on the pretty girl's other side. He smiled and said, "Glad to see you sit so close! Oh, this is my sister Aina." Then he pointed to the pretty girl who turned her head and smiled.

And suddenly Linnéa realized how obvious the resemblance was.

Timo's hair was a little darker and seemed to have a variety of colors, from the same pale color as Aina's to a light brown. They also parted their hair the same way. They were both freckled, but Aina's were more prominent. Their eyes were the same color and shape and they both had the same crooked smile. And then there was the way that they both lit up the room. It was the same.

No, Linnéa thought, it was slightly different. The way Aina did it was more… She couldn't think of the word, but she knew it was different.

Timo said, "Aina, this is my friend Linnéa from summer camp. She just moved here. She's got a lot of classes with you so be nice!"

"I'm always nice. Nicer than you, at least," Aina replied before turning around and talking to the two girls behind them.

Timo said, "And that is my sister. Pleasant, isn't she?" He laughed in a way that made Linnéa realize he was actually very fond of her. "Those girls right there are two of her friends. Kristin and Mathilde." Hearing their names, the girls looked over. Timo introduced Linnéa again. One smiled and waved and the other nodded with a blank face. Linnéa wasn't sure how to react.

The rest of the class passed incredibly normally and she didn't have a chance to say anything to Aina.

* * *

At the end of the day, Linnéa was exhausted and fed up with the loud, obnoxious people she'd been forced to sit near in her last class. She hurried out of the school and went out of her way to avoid walking by Timo. He was standing with his sister and her friends, talking, and she knew if she walked too close, he would attempt to draw her into a conversation with them and the three girls would be awkward because they didn't know Linnéa and Linnéa would just want to leave. So she instead hurried to her brother's car and yanking the door open.

At least, that's what she tried to do. But the door was locked and her brother was nowhere to be found and she sighed and leaned against the car. After a few minutes, Berwald appeared, keys in hand. He unlocked the car and they both got in and prepared to go home.

"Bad day?" he asked, brows furrowed together. It was the same brotherly worried look he gave her whenever he thought anything might be slightly wrong. Sometimes Linnea appreciated having such as a caring brother.

Sometimes she just wanted to be left alone.

"No," she lied. "It was perfectly fine. I just want to go home."

So they did.


End file.
